Chapter 2: Singularity F: Fuyuki (1) / My Servant is a Guardian
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When I opened my eyes, I found myself dropped in the middle of Fuyuki. In the original story, Mash was supposed to become a Demi-Servant and escape this place with the protagonist.
But seeing as I’m alone right now, it seems Mash either died or remained at Chaldea without being Rayshifted.
The problem was that I was currently a low-tier scrub who couldn't even use a Gandr shot without a Mystic Code, possessing nothing but a high Rayshift aptitude.
I was screwed. That was the conclusion I reached after five minutes of deep thought.
If I couldn't summon a Servant now, I’d probably end up being torn limb from limb by some trash mobs.
The issue was that I didn't have any Saint Quartz, nor did I know how to draw a summoning circle. Wait, don't you usually get one free gacha pull when you start? Then shouldn't they at least give me a Summon Ticket or some Saint Quartz?
I looked around, but all I could see were the flames swallowing the city and the ruins of buildings.
I found a metal rod and kept searching for anything that might help with a summoning, but there was nothing... I wished I had a Catalyst, but there was no way one would be left in these ruins.
Still, just in case, I kept digging.
The Director’s slap from earlier still stung like hell. I didn't want to wake up from this dream through more pain, so I wanted to stay alive by any means necessary until I naturally woke up.
In the distance, I heard the Director’s scream. She was probably running away from trash mobs.
"I'm sorry, Director. I don't have Mash or a communication device."
Thinking it was now or never, I drew two circles on the ground and then a star inside them. Since I couldn't remember any specific incantations, I just prayed desperately.
"O Guardian of the Scales, the Human Order is currently getting absolutely trashed here, and I'm out of options. It doesn't even have to be a Master-Servant relationship; a partnership is fine. Heck, I'm even okay with being the lackey!"
At that moment, something impossible happened. A Heroic Spirit actually responded to this ridiculous summoning. Either they weren't sane, or the situation was so dire that someone overflowing with benevolence for humanity answered this botched ritual. Not wanting to miss the chance, I kept praying.
"Please! I'm the only hope left. Everyone else is dead. Chaldea is the final bastion. If this place falls, humanity is finished. Please, I beg of you!"
I fell to my knees. Alright, one last push!
"I don't want to let my mom and dad go without even saying a proper goodbye! Who cares about humanity! I just want to see my family's faces one more time!"
The circle glowed even brighter than before, but just before the summoning completed, something struck the circle directly.
Summoning my ass. The ritual was a failure.
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From the rooftop of a building, someone was watching Damascus and Olga Marie. A man with blue hair holding a wooden staff looked down at the two of them.
"What’s this? If it was a decent Master, I was thinking of making a temporary contract to take another crack at that Saber fellow, but for it to be such a half-wit... Hmm... The girl seems quite talented, though she's a bit of a coward... It'd be hard to fight alongside someone that scared... And what's with that summoning circle? What kind of guy would actually respond to a circle like that?"
Cu Chulainn shook his head and was about to turn away when he heard Damascus's shout.
"I don't want to let my mom and dad go without even saying a proper goodbye! Who cares about humanity! I just want to see my family's faces one more time!"
Cu Chulainn scratched his head at the desperate cry and began tracing Runes in the air.
"I'll help you just this once. However, I can't take responsibility for whatever Servant gets summoned. I'm just making the path a little easier for a Servant who's willing to answer."
The Runes drawn in the air struck the summoning circle directly.
"Good luck, kid."
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A human silhouette appeared through the thick dust. What? This actually worked?
"Hey there. Are you my Master?"
The person speaking in a very casual tone seemed to be my Servant. Because of my whining at the end, I thought a Servant like Raikou might show up, but that wasn't the case.
As the dust cleared, a Servant I had never seen or heard of before stood in front of me.
He looked to be about 180cm tall, wearing military boots, black jogger pants, and a thick navy bomber jacket. In his right hand, he held a sword with a blade about 90cm long and a 30cm handle, but if it was a katana, it lacked a tsuba—that is, a hilt guard.
"GRAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Someone save me! Lev! Where is Lev!"
At the sound of the Director's scream and the noises of the mobs, my Servant spoke.
"I am Guardian. My class is Avenger. My first job is to save that woman, right?"
I nodded. He was a very strange fellow.
"Okay, job accepted. Then the daily wage for this task is one gold coin. Got it?"
After saying that and giving a wink, he ran off with his sword.
The Servant calling himself Guardian quickly took care of the trash mobs.
"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!"
On the tenth, he backstepped and leaped twice in mid-air.
He didn't seem particularly skilled with the sword, but he annihilated the enemies one by one using the blade's cutting power, durability, and his own high speed. Then, after springing into the air, he threw something he had been holding—I don't know when he grabbed it—at the enemies, and it exploded. It seemed to be a bomb.
"Alright! Time for my specialty!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he threw the sword in his right hand toward the enemies. Six of them were skewered by the blade and died.
In an instant, he had killed over thirty enemies, but there were still too many. After all, there were more than two hundred mobs that the Director had lured over.
The guy called Guardian pulled out a uniquely designed revolver.
"I'm gonna need a little help."
As if responding to his words, the revolver began to glow with a faint blue light, and my Servant started firing it at the enemies. Enemies began to fall to the 'bang bang bang' of the revolver's bullets. Each shot pierced through, taking down the enemies behind them as well.
Click, click.
The revolver must have run out of ammo, as it only made clicking sounds and didn't produce the desired reaction.
"Here's some food, buddy."
A red circular light appeared in his left hand, which he then pressed against the revolver. The revolver absorbed the light and, unlike before, began to glow red and hummed as if telling the Guardian it was ready. The Guardian pulled the trigger at the remaining sixty or so enemies. Each heavy shot, different from before, exploded upon impact, engulfing nearby enemies in flames and killing them.
After firing about five shots from the revolver, only one enemy remained.
At this rate, I felt like I could take it down even with a Gandr from my Mystic Code.
The Guardian tucked the revolver inside his jacket and flicked his left index finger.
"GRRRRRRRRRRR..."
The enemy growled low and glared at the Guardian.
Thwack!
At that moment, the Guardian's sword pierced through the enemy's back. The finger flick from earlier had been to call the sword back.
With that, the Guardian had annihilated all the enemies.
"Well? Ain't I cool?"
My Servant, a man with messy brown hair in a two-block perm and brown eyes, looked at me and spoke with a relaxed smile.
The Director and I just stared at the Servant, completely stunned.
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The man watching the whole situation from atop the building was looking at the guy called Guardian.
"He doesn't seem that outstanding, but he's decent enough."
Though he didn't give a glowing review, he watched the Guardian with an expression that suggested he had passed.
"I wondered what kind of fellow would stick by that half-wit, but this doesn't seem bad."
"Hmm..."
"Shall I watch a little longer?"
With those final words, the man concealed his presence.
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The Director, perhaps having regained her senses, shouted at me.
"What is this situation? Aren't you just a civilian? How can someone who only has a high Rayshift aptitude contract with a Servant? This is nonsense! Only first-class mages can contract with Servants!"
Interrupting the shouting Director, the Guardian spoke.
"Excuse me? You don't necessarily have to be a first-class mage to perform a summoning. There might be issues with maintenance, but if a cost-effective guy like me responds, there's no problem at all. I consume less magical energy than most heroes."
After a brief pause, the Guardian continued.
"Let's get out of here for now. If we stay, those guys might come back. Let's either find reinforcements or hide somewhere to recover our strength. Looking around... it's a sea of fire. Is there anywhere to hide?"
When the Guardian finished, the stunned Director spoke up.
"... Hmph, fine. I understand the situation. Damascus, due to the emergency, I will recognize your contract with this Servant. From here on, you'll have to follow my instructions. ....First, setting up a base camp is the priority. Do you understand? In times like this, we look for a terminal of the leylines—a place where magical energy gathers. If we're there, we might be able to communicate with Chaldea. So, in the case of this city..."
The Guardian replied nonchalantly to the Director's words.
"Then it's right under our feet. I can sense magical energy moving here, so I don't think we need to move. In the first place, the reason my Summoner... er... Master was able to summon me was because this place is a leyline. We can just set up the base camp right here."
"Huh? Oh? Right. Exactly. I knew that. Damascus, draw a circle. And look around for anything that could serve as a catalyst."
"Can't I just use my gun? Or my sword. My sword used to be Excalibur, you know."
"Pardon?"
The Director and I were floored. So that thing he was throwing around earlier was the King of Knights' sword?
"Why do you have that?" the Director asked the Guardian.
"I got it from a witch. She processed what she claimed was Excalibur and gave it to me. I killed that witch. Well, the witch said it was Excalibur, so I just took her word for it and used it. I don't really know. According to her, it never wears down and never breaks, but who knows if you can trust that."
Wait, so that's Excalibur?
"No, wait. Then if we use the Guardian's sword, couldn't we potentially summon King Arthur?"
At my words, the Director's eyes widened.
"Oh! Right! That makes sense! It might be possible! There's a chance! Let's try summoning a Servant using the Guardian's sword! This time, we'll do it properly!"
"Tsk... I feel like I'm being totally underestimated here..."
The Director's words seemed to have bruised the Guardian's pride. Well, it makes sense. He just saved our lives as soon as he appeared, and now we're trying to replace him with King Arthur just because of a sword. It was understandable for him to feel bad. Still, what could I do? I asked the Guardian how to draw the circle and how to perform a proper summoning. The Guardian explained everything I didn't understand step-by-step, while the Director threw barbs from the side.
"Director, you haven't forgotten that I'm a civilian, right?"
I spoke up instinctively because the Director kept nagging every time the Guardian explained something. Since I still didn't understand even after the explanation, the Director said she'd just do the summoning herself.
"Fine, I'll do it. I'd rather do it myself than leave it to a civilian like you."
The Director's mix of formal and informal speech was a bit heart-fluttering. Her face was cute too, so if it weren't for our ranks, I would've wanted to tease her right then and there.
"First, communicating with Chaldea is the priority... There!"
As soon as the Director finished, communication with Chaldea was established.
"S-S-Secu! Hello? Great! The connection is established! Thank goodness there were still survivors. Huh? You're the 48th Master, Damascus? Are you the only one alive?"
"Hello, Doctor. As you can see, I'm safe. I have a Servant with me, and the Director is here too."
"Hi~" the Guardian greeted casually.
"Hey! Why are you the one in command! Lev! Where is Lev! Bring Lev to me!"
"The Director really was a Lev fangirl..."
"Hey!"
I accidentally spoke my thoughts out loud, and the Director flipped out. Sorry, Doctor. I just poured gasoline on a house fire.
"Oh?! Director, you're alive? In that explosion? And without a single scratch?"
"What are you talking about! Forget that, where is Lev! Why is the head of the medical section in that position?!"
The Director screamed, cornering the Doctor.
Hang in there, Doctor. The Director's lost her mind, and there's nothing I can do...
"Even if you ask me why, it's difficult... I know this position doesn't suit me. But there's no one else. Olga Marie, there are fewer than 20 staff members currently alive. I'm in charge of operations because there's no one higher than me. Professor Lev was directing the Rayshift from the control room. Surviving that explosion is... practically impossible."
"No way... Lev? No, wait. You're saying there are fewer than 20 staff members? Then what about the others? The Master candidates? What happened to the Coffins?"
"All 47 are in critical condition. We might be able to save a few, but the rest... we're even short on medical equipment right now."
"Are you insane? Prepare for cryopreservation immediately! The priority is not letting them die right now. We'll worry about resuscitation methods later!"
"Ah! Right! The Coffins had that function! I'll execute it immediately!"
"Master, your Director's judgment is faster than I thought. It's a wise decision since they can figure something out after freezing them."
"How can I bear the burden of 47 lives? Really... if only Lev were here at a time like this..."
The Director paced restlessly, looking for Lev. I knew the truth, but I couldn't say it. Even if I told her that Lev was the one behind this disaster, she wouldn't believe me.
"......."
The Guardian was staring intently at something, the playfulness gone from his eyes.
"What's wrong, Guardian?"
"Master, Director. Someone is watching us. We're leaving right now. Don't argue with me. Pack everything and get out of here, now!"
As soon as he finished, the Guardian pulled out his revolver and fired three shots.
He shot something flying toward us, preventing it from reaching us, and said in a low voice:
"Hurry."
With that one word, the Director and I began packing our things as fast as we could.
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